Average Time to Deliver Across Postal Network Steady at 2.5 Days

As supply chain issues continue to plague the retail sector, booksellers have become some of the most vocal voices online to warn of coming shortages this holiday season. This past weekend, some authors took to Twitter to urge readers that, if they want copies of their books in time for the holiday season, they needed to place their orders now. Independent bookstores, too have told customers to plan ahead. “If you think you might need a book in this last chunk of the year, please consider ordering soon,” Washington, D.C.-based East City Bookshop posted on Twitter, citing tightening in the supply chain. It isn’t just books: a complex combination of worker shortages, increased overseas shipping costs and raw material shortages have impacted companies ranging from Peloton to Ravensburger, a popular maker of jigsaw puzzles, said this week that it would halt all orders of its games for the foreseeable future. But book publishers are especially vulnerable because they order new book printings based on consumer demand, and to keep a popular title in stock, they depend on getting those new printings out to customers quickly. As the timelines for new printings are stretched further and further, publishers face the real possibility of running out of some books ahead of the holidays.

In a move that some in the industry will welcome as putting at least a temporary stop to industry consolidation, the private investment firm KKR has reached an agreement with Paramount Global to acquire Simon & Schuster for $1.62 billion in an all cash transaction. Though below the $2.175 billion that Penguin Random House had previously agreed to pay for the country’s third largest trade publisher, $1.62 billion is a healthy price since most trade publishers sell for not much better than 1.5 times sales, and S&S’s 2022 revenue was $1.18 billion.

Fiscal 2022 Full Year and Fourth Quarter Key Financial: *Fiscal 2022 full year revenues and net income were records at $10.39 billion and $760 million, respectively. Revenues grew 11% compared to $9.36 billion in the prior year and net income increased 95% compared to $389 million in the prior year *Full year Total Segment EBITDA was $1.67 billion, also a record and a 31% increase compared to $1.27 billion in the prior year. Reported EPS were $1.05 for the full year compared to $0.56 in the prior year *Fourth quarter revenues were $2.67 billion, a 7% increase compared to $2.49 billion in the prior year, while net income was $127 million, a substantial improvement from a net loss of $(15) million in the prior year *Fourth quarter Total Segment EBITDA was $315 million, a 50% increase compared to $210 million in the prior year. Reported EPS were $0.19 for the fourth quarter compared to $(0.02) in the prior year – Adjusted EPS were $0.37 compared to $0.16 in the prior year *Digital Real Estate Services revenues for the fiscal year grew 25% despite facing tough prior year comparisons, with 37% and 11% revenue growth at REA Group and Move, respectively *Book Publishing revenues grew 10% in the fiscal year, driven by the acquisition of the HMH Books and Media segment and continued strong consumer spending, which remains above pre-pandemic levels